Infamous during the early 80s, DeLorean's DMC-12 has now become a highly prized collector's item, the car finally achieving a level of success its creator had hoped for. Better late than never.

The development story dates back to the mid-70s, with John DeLorean's dream of building a fast, affordable, and reliable sports car, combing the very best design and technology of the time. However, somewhere along the way, a desire to build rather than develop the DMC-12 caused no-end of setbacks and failures.

A combination of great ideas being poorly realized is probably the kindest description of John DeLorean's dream, the often quirky but unique solutions throw up some surprising facts along the way,

8 Construction - Corrosion Proof Materials

DMC-12 Chassis
Via The Ski Club

John DeLorean's vision of a futuristic sports car gets a lot of abuse from fans and the media, but the DMC-12 was a pretty solid design that needed a little more time and money to finish the project correctly.

DMC-12 Body And Chassis
Via Pinterest

Had the project been properly developed, maybe DeLorean would still be with us, building on the Lotus-developed galvanized steel backbone chassis wearing the custom stainless steel body. Both were great ideas, even if the body was prone to dents, that, due to a unique brushed finish, are difficult to repair despite claims of only needing sandpaper to refinish the surface.

7 Unusual Naming Convention - DMC-12

DMC-12 - Front View
Via WSupercars

Even if the famous shape wasn't instantly recognizable, a plethora of DMC and DeLorean branding shouts what this car is. DMC, simply an abbreviation of DeLorean Motor Company, is simple enough, but that mysterious 12 in the model number?

DMC-12 - Rear View
Via WSupercars

Take another look and "DMC-12" is missing from every angle, the carmaker had very good reason not to include the two-digit monicker. Originally planned to retail for $12,000 to US customers, growing manufacturer costs, shipping costs, and a weak exchange rate would have meant the name would need to be changed to DMC-25 to reflect a more accurate price association.

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6 Early Development Warning Signs - PRV V6 Engine Choice

DMC-12 Egnine
Via Pinterest

Possibly an early warning sign of poor development, DeLorean's first engine of choice being a Wankel rotary unit before production ended, forcing the carmaker to consider both Ford's V6 Cologne unit and Citroën power, with the latter being deemed to underpowered.

DMC-12 Engine Bay
Via Hagerty

Ironically, lack of power would be the same problem that afflicted production cars, adopting a PRV 2.85-liter V6 motor that barely delivers 130hp. As an interesting side note, John DeLorean had proposed a turbocharged model, but financial and quality issues posed a bigger problem at the time.

5 Multicultural Background - US, UK, France, Sweden, And Italy All Played A Role

DMC-12
Via Architectural Digest

The brainchild of John DeLorean (US), employing the engineering expertise of Colin Chapman (UK), powered by a consortium built engine (FR/SE) made the DMC-12 a truly global project.

DMC-12
Via Mecum Auctions

That just leaves the iconic wedge-shaped body with its feature gullwing doors, this is unmistakably the work of Giorgetto Giugiaro, famous for penning many of the greatest wedges of the 80s. The vehicle was also assembled in Northern Ireland. Interestingly the DMC-12 was only the third car in history to feature gullwing doors, they look great, but we have to question just how practical they would be in a confined space.

RELATED: 10 Most Beautiful Cars Designed By Goprgetto Giugiaro

4 Location, Location, Location - Northern Irelands Only Carmaker

DMC-12 Production Line
Via Solidrome

If the outskirts of Belfast seem like an unlikely place to set up a factory to build cars we'd tend to agree, but DeLorean had good reason to choose Dunmurry as their production center. Securing a huge investment to secure jobs by the British government, it seems money really does open a lot of doors, in this case, 660,000 square feet.

DeLorean Factory
Via Maxim

Securing a new manufacturing facility in North Ireland had its issues, the region wasn't the most stable of environments, but at least the car plant gave locals something to be proud of, to date the only large-scale Nothern Irish carmaker.

3 Performance - Success And Failures

DeLorean Time Machne
Via KIRO-TV

Every gearhead alive in the 80s will remember the classic movie line "you built a time machine out of DeLorean?" Given the idea that time travel requires immense speed, it does seem ironic. However, cinematic license required a mere 88mph to achieve time travel.

DMC-12 At speed
Via Road And Track

In what we can only think of as only a poor taste joke Back To The Future's famous "88mph" requirement has a lot more to do with reality than fantasy. Underpowered the Delorean might have been, but why did the designers use a speedo that stopped at 85mph? That was purely a federal government requirement, though at 109 mph, top speed wasn't much faster.

RELATED: 10 Movies Where The Cars Were The Stars

2 Unique Factory Builds - American Express Promotion

DMC-12 - AmEx
Via Reddit

For the not inconsiderable sum of $85,000, lucky American Express Gold cardholders could buy one of these rare DeLoreans. At the time, this sort of cash would bag them two Ferraris, which would have been a whole lot faster.

DMC-12 AmEx
Via Reddit

Originally built as promotion items for American Express, just two of the planned 100 examples were completed, with a further three cars built at a later date. Why would anyone want a gold-plated DeLorean? Luckily, the promotion was canceled after one sale.

1 DeLorean Motor Company - Past And Present

Dumurry Factory
Via DMC Talk forum

Barely two years after DeLorean opened their Dunmurry base, the dream was over. John DeLorean, facing prosecution for a host of charges — including drug trafficking and embezzlement — was forced to close the doors for the final time. A dream of selling modern sports cars faded into history after a run of just 9000 cars.

DMC Texas
Vie DeLorean.xom

Almost forty years later, the DeLorean name is still going strong, currently operating from a new base in Texas, gearheads can purchase brand-new factory-built DMC-12's constructed using the original factory parts with a few modern updates. Closure in 1983 left creditors with enough genuine parts to complete an estimated 8000 cars.

NEXT: The DeLorean Lives! Iconic 80s Car Finally Making A Comeback